IT'S FREE, GOT IT - FREE

AAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Sorry, I had to get it out.  Early this morning I sat down in the office and opened my email account. It’s Monday by the way, and not just any Monday but Cyber Monday. Which means out of thirty four emails, twenty eight were trying to sell me something. If that isn’t bad enough, the flyers in the mailbox have outgrown the mailbox.

I assume you are experiencing something similar in your life as well. It’s now full blown Christmas. Or as I think of it, ‘spending time’.  We are totally bombarded with ads trying to help us spend our hard earned money on their items. Did you notice even the radio stations seem to have more advertisements than usual?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and every year my family asks me to come up with a list of items I would like for Christmas. Let’s just say, at this time in life I don’t need or want for too many things. I have thirty five sweaters of which most of them are back in style. I even have one large drawer of socks that outnumber the days of summer. I tried telling them they could give me some, ‘peace of mind’, or one day off. They didn’t by that, no pun intended.

All of this had me to thinking we are missing the boat. Why don’t we as the carriers of this celebration, advertise our Christmas. Mass advertise Christmas Eve Service and now, wait for it, Christmas Day Sunday Celebration. Put ads everywhere. Tell them what we have. Make it sound so exciting and so irresistible that everyone will want to come. Follow this with making it irresistable & exciting. Then tell them, IT’S FREE!!!

That’s right, FREE. Advertise something like - Come to our Christmas Eve “Candle Lighting Silent Night Celebration” FREE. No charge, no offering, no hand out, just that wonderful time and experience of understanding that Jesus Christ came at Christmas to save the world from sin and give us all the gift that cannot be bought in a store. The gift only God can give is forgiveness, and with it the free gift of Eternal Life.

Something to think about.

Rob

Signal Your Intention

When you’re driving, do you use your directional indicators? I mean, all the time. Just asking. You know what they are right? They are that option in the car that you have always called blinkers or flashers. Most cars have them on the left side of the top of the steering column right under the wheel. Push it down to let people know you are turning left and push it up to let them know you intention is to go right. That’s the thing I’m asking about.

The reason I’m asking is, so many people seemed to have never ordered this option for their car. And this is very evident especially with more expensive cars.  I was out driving one day, and I almost always use them, even in the middle of the night when no one is there to see me use them. Had someone in the back seat at the time commend me for using them all the time. He too had noticed the same cars without this option. They don’t even use hand signals, remember them? MMMMMM. Something to think about.

This got me to thinking about our lives as followers of Christ. God said He sent to each of us the Holy Spirit to live and reside in each of our hearts. As a Christian, this is not an option. You have it, I have it, we just ask God and BAM, and there the Spirit is. But then… But then, do we live like we have the Spirit? A week or so ago I spoke on the Spirit here at church. He is there I said, but we don’t let Him take complete control over our lives all the time. We sometimes want to take back control of our lives. Just like last week,  “I did it my way”.

This brings me to the realization that just as when we drive and let people know which direction we are going by signalling, so we can do the same thing in life. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “Follow Me.” And if He did, and if we do, maybe we can let people know which way we are going and they can follow us as we follow Him.

Something to think about.

Rob

A Crumbling Life - Just Like A Crumbling Building

It was sad to see it gone. After all, it had been there longer than anyone on this earth has been alive. Once it had been the centre of the neighbourhood and it was tall enough up on that hill so you always knew where you were just by looking in its direction.

Yes, it was a church. Built to the glory of God and used for just that purpose. It represented all we may believe. Just like God, it was strong. When you entered, light coming through its stained glass was reminiscent of the rainbow, or sunrises and sunsets as God amazingly paints the sky for us to see.

Now it’s gone. And as we look around our world we also see the crumbling faith of a society that no longer has room for God. People strip away their faith and those places that remind them of something greater than themselves because they don't think God fits their concept of modern life. They begin to live life their own way. Maybe some of it started when Frank Sinatra started singing, “I Did It My Way”.

When I do go inside our churches today, I see so many people, crumbling under the weight of life that God never intended us to experience. I see individuals looking for someone or something to grasp on to. They are trying to make sense of the pain and sorrow, as they try to navigate life and get around the detours and alleyways they never wanted to go down. And it's there they find what they need. 

We all want something tangible enough to hold on to, something that will relieve the pain, and calm our hearts. That something is the person of Jesus Christ. He’s been there and He will be there for you. We all, at times, need help, not only to find faith or rebuild our faith but rebuild our lives. The best way to do that is find the Carpenter so He can take our crumbling life and restore it to glorify God.

Something to Think About

Rob

Come Fly With Me

Just like Bernie, I really love to fly. When I was young, read that twenty something, I made the decision to take flying lessons. It was one of my dreams at the time. Unfortunately, my pay didn’t provide enough cash for a family of three and flying lesson each week. Never did finish those wonderful amazing lessons.

Still, over the years I have continued to enjoy flying, even from a passenger seat. Sorry to those who are not fond of flying, but there is just something about it that changes me each time we lift off. My heart beats stronger when I know I will be putting myself in that seat and climbing to thirty-five thousand feet. To me those first few second after liftoff are like nothing else, not even the first climb on a roller coaster.

There is something else that comes to me every time. Once you are up there, you have a different perspective of this world and the place you occupy on terra-firma. From up there everything seems so small,insignificant and inconsequential. Seems to me that can relate to part of the getting above our problems and struggles.

God wants us to do just that, get above our problems. I remember the first time I ever flew. I was in the military on my way in 1966 to Banff Alberta to six weeks of training in the mountains. It was not a sunshiny day as the plane taxied out to the runway. I stared out the window as we began to move with full throttle, then lifting off and started the climb. The rain and gloom of the world we lived in soon disappeared when we passed through the clouds and emerged on top of them into the bright light of the sun. What an experiences.

God can do that again in our lives if we let Him. He will lift all of us above the experiences of life when we open our eyes and see things as He does. When the Son shines in our lives, life changes. It’s made new and we have a different perspective of life and the eternal life He bought for us with His sacrifice. Should I dare to ask you to come fly with me?

Something to think about.

Rob